METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ABLATING A DIELECTRIC FROM A SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE

摘要

Method for ablating a dielectric (12) from a surface of a semiconductor substrate (10), which comprises the step of ablating the dielectric (12) using a pulsed laser (14) with a wavelength in the mid-to far IR having a pulse duration of less than 100ns, and a wavelength selected so that the substrate (10) will be substantially transparent and the dielectric will be substantially absorbing to radiation of that wavelength, whereby the majority of the laser energy will be absorbed by the dielectric (12).